In the Land of Darkness
by Xeinzeru
Summary: A trio of ninja from the Land of Darkness have been given the important duty of heading half way across the continent to deliver a letter of alliance to the Leaf Village in order to save their home village from disappearing forever.  During the time skip
1. Chapter 1

_Deep in the remote land of Darkness lies the Ghost Village Hidden by Spirits. A long, long time ago, this village's existence was threatened everyday by the presence of a dangerous dragon demon. The villagers feared it so much that they persuaded their Zetsumeikage to lock it away in a powerful forbidden scroll. But this wasn't enough to keep the demon at bay. Before it could escape the scroll, the Zetsumeikage and a select few arranged a special gathering and sealed the dragon demon within a 'sacrificial' host. This host would then live the rest of their life with a demon sealed within them. But something began to occur that nobody had ever expected. Over time, the host's appearance began to change drastically into that of the demon. Frightened that it might posses and break free of the host, they transferred the demon into yet another host, but in doing so, killed the previous host. This so called 'ritual' continued in this village for hundreds of years and even into the present day, which holds the youngest host of the demon dragon in their history. He's already starting to show signs of change._

**Chapter 1**

On a beautiful day, which lay unnoticed to the obscured Ghost Village Hidden by Spirits, two figures raced down the lantern lit, marble streets with extreme speed. A boy with blue hair and strangely colored eyes sped ahead of another, lankier boy with purple hair, passing him with ease and turned a sharp corner.

"Hah! I'm beating you!" panted the boy with blue hair as his friend began to turn the corner behind him.

"Not for long!" smiled the boy with purple hair, gracefully leaping up from the ground and onto the rooftops. The strange boy just looked up as if he were duped while his friend disappeared over the roofs. With a low, annoyed growl to himself, he too jumped onto the roofs to catch up.

"Dammit!" The blue-haired boy whispered to himself when he noticed his friend was nowhere in sight. _'Well, all I can hope for is that I get there before him!' _He thought as he began to run with all his might.

"Boo." said a voice from behind, scaring the boy out of his skin. "Ha-ha, you scare too easily!" said the boy with raven purple hair from behind. Frustrated with his friend, the boy with navy-blue hair playfully pushed him off the roof. But his friend grabbed his arm just before falling to hold his balance and yanked his friend over the side of the roof as well and into a large tree located in a thick mist off to the left. Yelling as they fell all the way through the tree, hitting almost every branch on the way down, the boys hit the ground with a loud thud and painful yelps.

"Eeeeekk! What're you boys doing in here?" yelled a female voice, coming from the hot spring. Looking around frantically to realize where they were, the boys began to panic as more and more girls began to yell and scream at them.

"It's Hatori again!" Yelled another unidentifiable voice through the mist as the girls began to throw whatever they could find at the peeping toms.

"Go that way!" Hatori pointed as he shoved his friend in an unidentifiable direction. They both high-tailed it out of the bathhouse, rocks and items still being pelted at their frail figures. One pebble struck Hatori's friend in the back of the head.

"Sorry!" squeaked the blushing, blue-haired boy before turning angrily to his grinning friend as they ran.

"What? You did it!" Hatori stated as he sprinted ahead, their destination in sight. Rubbing his head where the rock hit, the boy with flowing, navy hair hesitated a moment before sprinting ahead as well. Before them lay the largest tree in the Land of Darkness, which held the building of the Zetumeikage's office that protruded from the crater of a once large branch that no longer existed. The doors at the base of the tree were massive; about 40 feet tall and 20 feet wide, and carved on them was the image of a great dragon. As the boys raced through the open doors, they tried to avoid the few people that walked through the halls and getting yelled at about running from the woman behind the front desk. Up the spiral stairs they ran, side by side, trying to push each other out of the way until they made it to the top floor that held the Zetumeikage's foyer and the door to her office. The blue-haired boy pushed himself ahead just in time to leap at the door handle. Right as he was opening the door, Hatori trips over him trying to bypass him, and they both went crashing down to the floor while the door flew open.

"See? I told you they'd make it on time!" said a girl's voice from ahead. After hearing the familiar voice, the boys quickly picked themselves off the floor and stood formally in front of the Zetsumeikage. She sat elegantly at her beautifully organized, hand carved desk with written documents and mission lists placed neatly in front of her. Also, in front of her stood the girl with red and black hair whom had confidence in their arrival.

"Yeah, Barely." sighed the man with silver hair to the right of the Zetumeikage's desk as he folded his arms, giving the boys a crooked look.

"Well, if it wasn't for Hatori-" The strange boy grumbled angrily before he was cut off by the girl's voice.

"Mikami! How did you get that scratch on your face?" said the girl to the blue-haired boy, Mikami. Touching his hand to his face, Mikami now realized that he had cut himself falling out of the tree with Hatori. Now thinking about it, he had no clue how to explain it without bringing up the bathhouse. His face turned a deep red.

"Well, uh...you see Enzeru, um...ha-ha, the funny thing is-" Mikami stuttered, blushing as he rubbed the back of his head.

"He fell out of a tree." Hatori answered for him blatantly with a big smile that shown his naturally blackened teeth.

"You... fell out of a tree...?" The girl, called Enzeru, questioned as she tilted her head with a raised eyebrow.

"Y-Yeah! No biggie! Ha-ha!" Mikami answered quickly and loudly, trying to avoid anymore questioning.

"So now that we're here, what's our mission for the day? I heard it's pretty important." Hatori asked the Zetsumeikage to change the subject as he closed the door.

"Well, I wouldn't really call it a mission for the day." Spoke the Zetsumeikage in a smooth, melting voice that captured the attention of everyone in the room. "But this is a very important mission. I honestly don't know how long it will take." A silent pause crossed the room as the three that stood before her waited in anticipation.

"As you know, our village is almost completely isolated from the rest of the world. Other villages to the west find it too dangerous to even cross over the border of the Land of Darkness because of the protectiveness of our Dark Forest. This is cutting back our trade and communication drastically. We are slowly losing our power, and that's where you three are going to come in." She explained, folding her hands gracefully in front of her. The sleeves of her majestic, white kimono appeared to swallow her hands up with only her delicate fingers showing through the black trim. "...You three have the mission of visiting an extremely powerful village far to the northeast of here and will give the Hokage of that village this letter of requested alliance directly from me." She concluded, holding out a neatly folded letter sealed with her mark and beautifully written kanji on the front that read _'Letter of Alliance: From the Zetsumeikage of the Ghost Village Hidden by Spirits'_

"So, we're just delivering a letter? Can't you just send it to them using a messenger bird?" Mikami questioned, dumbfounded.

"It's not that simple," Said the man with white hair as he lit a cigarette. "Think of it as an ambassador mission. It would be very disrespectful and informal if we just sent a messenger bird. We need representatives from our village to deliver that letter to them personally." He elaborated as he exhaled slowly the smoke from his lungs.

"So wait, if we're leaving the village that means...we'll be seeing the sun?" Mikami spoke exasperatedly, his eyes widening as he went completely off topic.

"Yup," said the man with white hair as he took another drag from his cigarette. "It took you that long to figure it out?" Mikami's teammates chuckled at him as his expression faded to embarrassment, though admitting to his self that he was pretty slow at figuring it out. Since the village is obscured by the canopy of the massive trees that grow in the Land of Darkness, no one living here has ever seen the sun unless they've been outside the Land of Darkness, such as the man with silver hair.

"So Keanu Sensei's going to?" Enzeru questioned excitedly.

"Of course I am," Said their sensei, Keanu. "Unless you know how to get there by yourself." He laughed slightly.

"So, what's the name of this village we're going to anyway?" Hatori asked.

"It's called the Leaf Village hidden in the Trees." The Zetsumeikage answered. A long silence filled the room

"... Never heard of it..." Mikami broke the silence in a clueless tone. Enzeru and Hatori glanced at each other, unknowing of the village as well.

"Well, that's to be expected I guess..." Keanu sighed as he scratched his head in disbelief, but also with understanding. Before anything more could be said, the office door flew open once again to reveal not more people, but a small, puppet-like being with tears flowing heavily from his eyes.

"Mama!" He yelled, sprinting towards Enzeru and leaping out at her.

"Malachi?" Enzeru said in surprise, catching him as he wrapped his small, wooden arms around her neck. "I thought I told you to stay at home until I was done here?"

"I'm so sorry Mama, but he's gone! I had to come tell you!" Malachi explained himself as the tears kept flowing. "Atreyu's gone!"

"Oh no, not again..." Enzeru sulked, "Where did he go?"

"I'm not sure… he just walked out of the house saying he was tired of doing nothing... Vincent went after him and told me to stay home, but I HAD to come tell you Mama!" Malachi cried harder, burying his head in her shoulder.

"It's ok, Malachi..." Enzeru comforted him as she petted his head. Mikami grabbed his head and started pulling at his hair.

"This is just great! I hope he doesn't do what he did last time he got out!" Mikami said horrifically as everyone else began to remember Atreyu's destructive escapade the last time he left the house by himself.

"Well, at least Vincent's with him this time." Enzeru stated which relaxed everyone a great deal.

"Are you mad at me Mama...?" Malachi finally lifted up his head to reveal his big, puppy-dog eyes.

"Of course not, Malachi." Enzeru smiled, making Malachi cease his crying and smile back.

"You kids go ahead and find him. I'll meet up with you at the village gate." Keanu said suddenly with a soft smile.

"Alright, let's go find him." Hatori said as his teammates and Malachi nodded in agreement. After they left the room, silence struck again.

"... Is this what you really want to do, Shino?" Keanu finally spoke, a little uneasy at first.

"Yes. The council and I couldn't find a better team for the job." She sighed, a little worried. "You of all people should know that." She forced a smile. She knew what Keanu really meant, but didn't want to answer that heart-panging question.

"... Alright," Keanu sighed, picking up the letter and tucking it safely in his pocket before heading for the door and placing a hand on the handle.

"Take care of them." The Zetsumeikage asked suddenly. Keanu turned around slightly with a smile.

"Of course. Wouldn't want anything happening to them, especially your daughter." He concluded with a soft smile as he left the room, closing the door silently behind him. Shino sat back in her chair and closed her eyes to relax. After a moment of thinking to herself, she opened her eyes slowly to gaze down at a picture sitting on her desk. The picture included her smiling when she was younger and a man with red hair wrapping an arm around her waist. She reached for it and picked it up to look at it closer before running her fingertips over the dusty glass in the frame.

"... If only you could see her now."

Out in the village, the trio continued to scour the area for the missing Atreyu. Enzeru finally calls everyone back to their meeting spot with Malachi at her side. Mikami was the first back.

"Any luck?" She asked him with a sad look on her face. Mikami couldn't help but to blush at how cute she looks when she made her sad faces, but tried to be serious about the situation.

"N-no...I looked everywhere." He replied, upset that he couldn't do anything more for her.

"I couldn't find him either." Hatori said as he appeared suddenly.

"Yeah, me neither." She said sadly. After looking at them both, Enzeru then looked down at Malachi with a comforting smile on her face. "Malachi, want to use your jutsu?" Malachi's eyes widened with happiness after she spoke those magical words to him.

"Ok!" He said happily as he took one of his long, pointed fingers and ran it down his chest area that was stitched up, slicing the stitching open.

"Locator Eye Jutsu!" She spoke after she and Malachi made the required hand signs. The eye socket in Malachi's chest opened up to reveal a vertically placed, pale yellow eye that resembled a snake's. The eye jolted around to look in different directions before Malachi envisioned through Atreyu's eyes where he was. He saw a type of counter and a partial wall with a man standing in front of him, looking down at him in an extremely annoyed manner. He snapped to when he recognized the area Atreyu was at.

"He's at the village gate!" Malachi yelled, happy that he was able to help.

"All the way up there?" Mikami roared, "Atreyu's getting on my last nerve and I haven't even seen him to day yet!"

As soon as Malachi closed up his third eye, the team was off to the complete opposite side of the village. They jumped across rooftops and ran through the streets until they came close to the village gate. The gatekeeper that sat in the small outpost everyday was standing in front of a very small puppet no taller than three feet with his hands on his hips as this small puppet with spiky red hair taunted him. As they grew closer, they could begin to hear the threats the puppet was spitting out at the gatekeeper and they also noticed another, taller puppet standing behind him as if he were trying to coax him out of his argument.

"I'll tell 'ya, if you don't scram, I'm 'gonna have to get security down here." said the gatekeeper, loosing his patience as he chewed on his toothpick.

"I don't care! Send'em all down here! I can take 'em on!" yelled the raspy, redheaded puppet as he shook one of his four fists at him.

"Atreyu, please stop..." said the taller puppet behind him in a calm voice.

"Atreyu! Vincent!" yelled Enzeru as they approached. Enzeru quickly scooped up Atreyu in her arms and tried to keep him from escaping. "I'm so sorry, Dumoi! He didn't bother you too much, did he?" She tried to apologize.

"Hey, what's the big deal? Put me down Enzeru!" roared Atreyu as he wiggled around trying to break free of her grasp.

"You might want to keep him on a leash next time." Dumoi the Gatekeeper said as he folded his arms. "Nah, he's fine. I have to put up with his crap every day. I'm used to it by now." He concluded as if nothing happened, walking back inside his outpost. Enzeru sighed in relief as she turned around to Vincent, the taller puppet with white hair.

"Thank you." She said gratefully.

"... Yes, of course." He said quietly, smiling.

"If you make us run all around the village looking for you again, you're going to be sorry!" Mikami taunted the pinned Atreyu as he poked a finger at his forehead.

"Make me!" Atreyu snapped, almost biting off Mikami's finger.

"Oh good, you found him." Keanu Spoke, approaching the team with four packs lung across his back. "Since you were busy with Atreyu, I packed your supplies for you."

"Thanks man." Hatori spoke in gratitude as he began to distribute the bags to everyone.

"Did you-?" Enzeru began to ask as she put Atreyu down.

"Yes, I did." Keanu answered with a smile. "All of the puppet parts are in the bigger backpack."

"Thank you!" She said appreciatively as she took her bag and slung in over her shoulders.

"Wait, you're making another puppet?" Mikami questioned in fear as Hatori and he looked at each other in dismay.

"Yup! He's gonna be our little brother or sister!" Malachi said with a huge grin.

"...Joy." Mikami sobbed. Keanu sent a friendly hand gesture to Dumoi. With his feet propped up in the counter, Dumoi gave him the thumbs up and began throwing the hand-signs, only he knew, to open the village gate. Suddenly, the roots and branches that coated the titanic gate and walls surrounding the village began to move, creaking their way away from the gate. The sound of rustling tree leaves and snapping branches filled the air until the entire gate was clear. The doors slowly opened out into the darkness of the forest that lay ahead.

"Everyone ready?" Keanu asked.

"Definitely!" Mikami yelled, rearing to go. The team and the puppets that followed leapt into the forest and up into the massive branches of the trees to their destination, The Leaf Village.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 **

It's been a couple days since Squad six left the Ghost Village and they still haven't made it to the edge of the Land of Darkness. It was dark, around midnight in the outside world. Enzeru and Malachi were asleep in their makeshift bed of two blankets and one pillow as the guys stayed awake talking to one another. Mikami, sitting on a small stump, rested his head in his hand as his glossy, strange colored eyes stared distantly into the fire.

"So how does it feel to be outside the village for the first time?" Keanu asked as he sat on the ground, leaning up against a large tree about 30 feet wide.

"Definitely interesting." Hatori replied quietly as he stretched his arms up over his head before bringing them back down to rest on his knees.

"How about you Mikami?" Keanu asked.

"Hm?" Mikami mumbled as he looked up through his brow. He was so mesmerized by the dancing flame that he didn't notice anyone was speaking.

"How do you like being out of the village?" Keanu asked again.

"...It's alright I guess." He answered softly as his attention was drawn back to the flame. "It's so quiet... does anything even live out here?"

"I'm sure there are many animals living out here. We just haven't seen any of them yet." Keanu reassured. Mikami sighed and went back into his trance, recalling past memories of him and his friends, Enzeru and Hatori, when they were still in the Academy. "Hey, Hatori.." Mikami spoke quietly, his eyes still gazing at the flame.

"Hm?" He answered after a yawn.

"...Nah, it's nothing." Mikami mumbled as he stood up to stretch. "I'm going to bed."

" 'Kay." Hatori slurred as he, too, began to lay down to sleep. Vincent and Atreyu, who were out exploring earlier, came back quietly to the fire.

"What, party's over?" Atreyu grumbled in anger.

"You're the one who wanted to go exploring and was gone for 2 hours." Mikami stated, too tired to argue with him about it. Vincent just sighed and pulled out a blanket from Enzeru's backpack for Atreyu and his self to sleep with. Atreyu just grabbed it and went as far away from the campfire as he could and lay down. After a while, everyone was asleep except for Mikami who continued to dwell on something.

"You thinking about something?" Keanu asked, still awake against the tree. At first Mikami didn't want to answer, but instead rolled over away from him.

"Yeah, just something. Not a big deal." Mikami mumbled.

"Mikami, you're a bad liar." Keanu chuckled, "I'm your sensei, you can tell me anything."

Hesitant at first, Mikami finally decided to share his problem.

"...You know about the demon dragon thing, right...?" Mikami began.

"Yes, of course." Keanu replied, putting out his last cigarette for the night in the dirt beside him.

"Well, I've always wondered... when they seal it in a different host every so often, was it their choice, or were they forced to?" Mikami asked in a serious tone. His eyes averted to the dirt beside him.

"...Hm, I'm not sure Mikami." Keanu answered, unable to answer Mikami's panging question which left him a little sad. "Why do you ask?"

"...because I don't remember if I chose to or not." Mikami answered, followed by silence.

"Well, if you really want to know, you should ask the Zetsumeikage when we get back..." Keanu said unnervingly, not sure if Mikami really wants that question answered. Mikami nodded to his self, and with it, came sleep.

Out in a land far away, a snake-like man with long black hair sat on a throne-like, stone chair placed at the end of a long room that resembled a hallway. It was dark, with only the moonlight shinning in through the small, triangular windows on the right side. With a slight motion of his hand, a shadow-like being appeared before him in complete silence. He knelt before the man on the throne, gazing up at him through his brow with his mesmerizing red eyes.

"Kairi," Said the man in his creepy, snake-like voice to the shadow-like boy. "I've got word that The Hidden Ghost Village has sent their selected ninja. I want you to cut them off before the even leave the Land of Darkness. Kill everyone. I just want the one with the demon." He ordered without hesitation. But the boy, known as Kairi, looked at him as if asking how he's supposed to know which one has the demon.

"Oh, don't look at me like that." The man said as Kairi's gaze remained unchanged. "The rumor with this demon is that it alters the appearance of the host. That should be enough for you." Kairi nodded, and then disappeared as silently as he appeared. Almost as if he wasn't there at all. The man chuckled under his breath.

"Don't fail me."

_"Where am I..?" whispered Mikami in the darkness."Who are you?"_

_"You don't remember me?" Said a voice that echoed inside the darkness, _

_amused._

_"Are you...the demon?" asked Mikami._

_"Maybe." Cackled the voice as it closed in on him.._

_"It's been a while; can you tell me why you're here?" Mikami asked, trying to hide his fear. The voice quickly changed from echoes to a pair of big, scary eyes that looked just like his. They stared at Mikami as if they were looking right through him._

_"You..." the voice roared as the eyes closed in on him."Will soon cease to exist."_

"Mikami!" Yelled a voice from afar, but then grew louder as his mind finally snapped to. Mikami's eyes flew open to see a wide eyed Enzeru looking down at him. "You awake?" She said smiling. Mikami quickly rose from his bed, realizing he was just dreaming.

"You don't look so good. You ok?" She asked as she felt his forehead. His face turned a bright red as Hatori grinned at him teasingly from afar.

"Y-yeah! I'm fine!" Mikami stuttered with a forced smile. As she smiled back and walked away to pack her things, he lifted a hand to his face to rub his eyes awake.

"Ohhhhh, what was that?" Hatori whispered teasingly with a huge grin.

"Gah! Would you quit sneaking up on me like that?" Mikami jumped. "And it was nothing!" Hatori got closer to Mikami's ear as he whispered something once more.

"Hmmm, if you don't make a move soon, I'm going to." Hatori grinned even bigger as his snake-like, bluish tongue slithered around his lips suggestively. Mikami, his face turning 50 shades of red, flew into Hatori like a mad dog to a bone.

"Ok you two, quit horse playing and let's get moving!" Keanu yelled at them with a smile.

"Yeah! Quit flirting with each other!" Atreyu taunted as he stuck his pointed tongue out at them.

"Sh-shut up!" Mikami roared at Atreyu, embarrassed.

"Aww, Mikami, you're blushing! I didn't know you felt that way for me~." Hatori teased him further, running a hand down Mikami's chest.

"Would you stop it?" Mikami yelled, pushing Hatori off of him and rushing to pack his backpack.

"Aw, you're no fun." Hatori pouted as he lay on the ground. Mikami slung his pack over his shoulders and ran to the group before Hatori molested him any further. He looked pleadingly over at Enzeru, who chuckled at him.

The hours went by like days as Squad six continued their trek through the Land of Darkness.

"We should be reaching the edge of the forest soon. Give it about a day." Keanu said as they all flew through the branches of the trees. It was obvious they were getting to the edge, the trees seemed like they were getting smaller with each step.

"Wow, I've never seen trees this small..." Enzeru spoke in a fascinated tone, "You probably couldn't walk on the branches here without one snapping..." Though the trees were getting smaller, the sky was still blocked out by the canopy.

"I just can't wait to see the sun." Hatori spoke with a big smile.

"What do you care about seeing the sun? You never uncover your eyes anyway!" Mikami argued.

"Maybe I will." Hatori retorted with a matter-of-fact grin. Mikami just looked at him as if he wouldn't. After just a brief moment, Keanu noticed something strange. Then, it hit him.

"Everyone down!" He yelled, startling everyone before jumping down to the ground.

Enzeru yelped as Keanu grabbed her and hid in the brush below with the others.

"What's wrong?" Mikami whispered to his sensei. Keanu quietly pointed to three needles sticking out of a nearby tree that weren't there before. If Enzeru were still in the way, she would have been struck by them.

"Ok, it seems we have unexpected company. He seems to be up in the branches somewhere, but I didn't have time to pinpoint his exact location." Whispered Keanu. "I have a good plan to corner this guy." He started as he drew everyone in for a quick talk.

"Everyone good?" Keanu whispered. Everyone nodded in response, then dispersed through the brush to their designated positions. Mikami was up in the branches to the south, Hatori to the east, Enzeru and her puppets spread out from West to north and Keanu above in the canopy. All was silent, until Mikami heard needles whizzing though the air. He dodged them as they flew past his head, striking the tree behind him. Jumping through the air towards northwest, the needles continued to fly through the air at him. All missed. As soon as he reached the designated tree, he dropped down quickly into the brush as Enzeru dropped down from the canopy to see the shadowy figure just before it disappeared into the trees.

"I don't think so!" Enzeru said to herself as she threw her hand signs. "Temporary Control Jutsu!" Chakra strings flew from her fingertips and off into the direction where one of her puppets was hiding. With a wave of her hands in a wide, sweeping motion, her puppet, Vincent wentflying out of his hiding place from the west with the hidden swords visibly in his hands. In another wave of fingers, he dive-bombed the area the shadowy figure took shelter in moments ago with his extended swords. But the figure had already moved to a new location.

"He's coming your way!" Yelled Mikami, who viewed the scene from the ground. She heard rustling in the trees beside her and activated more of her strings to Malachi, who was hiding behind her. She moved her fingers in complex movements that sent both of her puppets flying through the air in front of her. Malachi blocked more flying needles with his own needle-like fingers while Vincent went ahead, slashing at the now visible, shadowy figure. The figure backed off, jumping up higher into the trees to be cornered by, yet again, another puppet.

"You ain't gettin' away from me!" Atreyu cackled as his four arms transformed into his spider-like legs to slash at the foe. The figure jumped off to the east, where Hatori was waiting in ambush. Atreyu clung to the tree, then leapt out of like a spider, and crawled down it to talk to Enzeru.

"Those needles are definitely poison-tipped. Be careful." He warned her. " I saw them, it's similar to the way you use your poisons in my arms." Enzeru nodded.

"Thank you." She said to him politely before he dropped off the tree and stood on the branch beside her. _'So if he uses poisons too, it's useless to use mine against him..'_ She thought, then rethought her tactic. _'Ok, I'll leave it up to Hatori for now'_. She jumped down to the ground with Mikami to prepare for plan B. As the shadow continued east, it looked behind him to see if the puppets were still after him. But as soon as he faced forward, he was inches away from the tip of a giant shuriken being held by Hatori. He stopped in his tracks as Hatori got a good look at his foe. He had green hair, cold red eyes, and an expressionless face. The foe quickly reacted and stepped up onto the shuriken blade, then jumping up into the air in a back flip. Hatori looked up with a malicious grin as the enemy rained poison needles down on him. Hatori blocked most with his shuriken, but one grazed his cheek. The foe landed on his feet silently behind Hatori and turned around to face him, throwing even more needles at him. Hatori rubbed his cheek with his long sleeve before trying to block more, then took his giant shuriken and threw it at high-speed towards the enemy. The enemy barely dodged it, and it got lodged deep into the tree behind him. From the needle scratch on his cheek, Hatori was starting to feel the effects of the poison, but it wasn't bad enough to kill him. _'Why is this burning?'_ Hatori thought to himself as he held his hand to the scratch. The foe came back around while Hatori lowered his guard and began to throw more needles. All of the sudden, Malachi appeared before him to block.

"Thanks." Hatori smiled.

"No problem!" Malachi smiled back as Enzeru and Mikami jumped up to help.

"He uses poison needles, be careful." Enzeru told Hatori as the three encircled each other back to back.

"Oh, I see. Makes sense." Hatori replied, reaching over to the tree that held his giant shuriken and pulled it out with ease. Enzeru pulled Vincent and Atreyu over as well to help with a wider range of defense. By now, the enemy had disappeared back onto the depths of the forest. They waited patiently for the enemy to strike once more, but before that could happen, the branch beneath them began to creak. They all looked out into space to process what was going to happen.

"Oh no! I forgot! The trees in this part of the forest aren't strong enough to support this much weight!" Enzeru cried out as they all looked at each other with impending doom. The branch snapped. The team, unable to react in time, fell from the trees. Enzeru's puppets were able to escape to safety, but neither of them was able to do anything to help them.

"Mama!" Malachi cried out as they fell. The enemy finally came out of hiding and hit Mikami on the back of the head hard enough to knock him out, then ran off with him.

"Mikami!" Enzeru called out, trying to reach out to him. Hatori was able to regain his footing on another branch and caught Enzeru in his arms. They both looked up just in time to see the enemy dissapear from sight with their comrade in arms. Then, Keanu fell down from the canopy in time to keep the foe from escaping. The foe whipped out more needles with one hand and threatened to throw them at Keanu. Keanu threw his hand signs, then paused for a moment.

"Let him go, or I'm going to have to kill you." Keanu said in an extremely serious manner never before displayed in front of his teammates. The foe stood his ground, ready to throw his weapons.

"Fine, you leave me no choice..." He said. "Black Death Jutsu." Keanu spoke, the words lingered on his breath as the shadows from all around began to congregate at the foe's feet. The foe instantly reacted to the jutsu and jumped up trying to avoid it, but it was coming from above as well. There was nowhere to go. Then the enemy looked down at Keanu as he threw his own hand signs, and then threw a single needle at Keanu's feet. In seconds, the needle exploded into purplish smog. _'Poison!'_ Keanu thought as he jumped to safety. Doing so disrupted his jutsu and allowed the enemy to escape momentarily. Mikami began to arouse from his blackout when he noticed he was captured by the enemy. Without any warning, Mikami punches the foe in the face which released him from his foe's grasp, then he threw hand signs.

"Dragon's Fury Jutsu!" Mikami yelled. Chakra began to accumulate in his hands and feet as he launched himself at high-speed at the enemy using a tree, leaving an imprint of his foot in it. As the foe looked at him, Mikami threw another chakra-packed punch at him that sent him flying up into the air. Mikami then launched himself once more off another tree straight up into the air, almost breaking through the canopy. With one powerful, downward kick, Mikami sent his foe flying back down to the ground. The foe hit the ground at high-speed, causing the ground to shake, then crack. Mikami landed back on the ground near Hatori and Enzeru, who were still in the tree. He gave his teammates a thumbs up and a grin, but after a moment, the ground began to shake again. Keanu went down to the crag forming in the ground to find out that the figure Mikami sent flying was actually a substitute. The ground began to fall away into a vast canyon.

"You guys get out of here!" Keanu yelled at his team. They nodded, then without hesitation, ran for it to avoid the ground that slowly gave away at their feet. The enemy reappeared on a tree limb above Keanu, looking down on him with his malevolent gaze. By now there was no way a normal human being could cross the vast canyon that lay in front of them, and the enemy knew that. Now separated from his team, Keanu pulled out a kunai from his kunai holster and was ready to fight if the shady figure decided to attack.

"What do you want with Mikami?" Keanu asked the figure that stood before him. The boy did not answer, and with the silence, disappeared into the shadows like the wind. After a moment, Keanu lowered his guard and put his kunai away. He jumped over to the edge of the canyon that looked like a bottomless pit to see if his comrades were unharmed. "You guys ok?" He yelled.

"Yeah, we're fine!" Hatori yelled back at him, his voice echoing down through the chasm. "Did Mikami seriously do all this?"

"I highly doubt it." Keanu answered. "It looks like the ground around here was eroded away by an underground river. It was bound to happen sooner or later, probably." Mikami breathed a huge sigh of relief that he wasn't the cause of this mess. "But there is one problem. This chasm is too big to cross. We may have to split up for now."

"W-what? How will we know where to go?" Mikami shouted frantically.

"Just go northeast for now. When you begin to see forest with sunlight, you've reached the Land of Fire, which holds the Leaf Village." Keanu informed them."You can do it, I know you can. You'll probably make it before me." He encouraged with a smile and a thumbs up. They all looked at each other and nodded.

"Good luck Keanu Sensei!" Enzeru yelled before he disappeared into the shadows. A strong silence crossed them all.

"Great...just great. We're going to be eaten by the beasts that live in this forest!" Mikami whined.

"Hatori, you might want to do something about that poisoned cut." Enzeru said, talking over Mikami's fit.

"Oh, yeah." Hatori remembered. He threw his hand signs and prepared himself. "Shed Skin Jutsu!" Hatori's skin began to crack, flake, and completely separate itself from his body. Within seconds, Hatori stepped out of his old skin like a shedding snake completely healed. The cut was gone and so was the poison.

"Dude, that's so gross..." Mikami muttered to himself as he and Atreyu watched Hatori brush off the access flakes that were left behind with creeped out expressions.

"I guess we should start walking, huh..?" Enzeru spoke softly as she peered into the depths of the forest.

"Yup! Let's go Mama!" Malachi said happily, happy to know she was safe as he held her hand.

"Alright, let's move." Hatori concluded as the team continued their trek through the Land of Darkness by their lonesome.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

A single day passed since Squad six was separated from their sensei, Keanu, and there was still no sign of the edge of the forest. They continued jumping through the tree branches until they could no longer support their weight, then the group transitioned to the ground.

"Keanu Sensei said it would only take a day to reach the edge of the forest. Did we take a wrong turn?" Enzeru questioned as she ran beside Hatori.

"I'm not sure. The trees do seem to be getting smaller, so the canopy should soon have gaps in it. Then we'll be able to see the sun." Hatori answered with a smirk on his face. But Mikami stopped in his tracks, the others noticed so they stopped ahead of him to see what was wrong.

"You ok?" Hatori asked with a semi-worried expression. Mikami just stood there, looking at the ground beneath his feet with his eyes hidden by his silky blue hair. Hatori and Enzeru looked at each other and approached him slowly.

"Mikami?" Enzeru called to him. He finally looked up at her with tears forming in his eyes. "Mikami? What's wrong?"

"Uhn... the sun... what if it... eats me?" He finally spoke. Hatori and Enzeru looked at each other, trying to hold in their laughter, but failed.

"Mikami, you dork! Was that all?" Hatori laughed himself to tears.

"Sh-shut up!" Mikami sobbed with a hint of anger. "Seriously! What if it does? I always imagined it like one of those things on lantern fish... It could eat us all!" He rubbed his eyes filled with tears.

"Oh Mikami..." Hatori giggled, having too much fun with the situation. "Yes, it will gobble you up within seconds! Be very afraid!" Hatori taunted.

"Hatori!" Enzeru scolded, not wanting Mikami to worry, but it was already too late for that.

"Hahaha, yeah! It'll eat you whole!" Atreyu joined in on the taunting.

"Atreyu! Don't be so mean!" Malachi yelled.

"Mikami, it's ok..." Enzeru spoke softly, trying to comfort him. But he was already doubled over on the ground in tears with his head in his hands, terrified. "The sun won't eat you! I promise!" She placed a hand on his shoulder. Mikami's sobbing ceased instantly as his face began to turn a deep shade of red. He looked up at her innocent face with eyes that soothed his very soul. To avoid being seen blushing in front of her, he quickly jumped up off the ground and scratched the back of his head nervously.

"Y-yeah, if you say so! Ahahaha..." He stuttered with nervousness. Suddenly, a bird flew out of a nearby tree and into the canopy. As it brushed past leaves and branches, it left a path big enough for a single ray of light to reach the ground. Mikami almost jumped out of his skin as they all looked over at the golden light that beamed from the canopy.

"Is that...?" Enzeru began, mystified by its glowing elegance.

"It is." Hatori answered in the same mystified way. Malachi's face lit up as he ran over to the shining light excitedly, dancing around it with glee.

"It's so bright! Brighter than the lanterns that lights the streets in the village!" Malachi yelped joyfully as he went over to Enzeru, holding her hand and leading her to it without hesitation. Hesitant at first, she stuck her hand into the frail sunlight and wiggled her fingers gently. The sun lit up her skin in a blinding light as she stuck her whole arm through it and pulled it back out.

"It's so warm!" She exclaimed as Hatori and Mikami approached her, Mikami being more cautious about it. "Come here, Mikami!" She said, grabbing his wrist. Blushing madly, he didn't know whether to feel happiness or fear as she stuck his hand into the sunlight as well. He closed his eyes in fear of something bad happening, but then slowly opened them to see his pale skin glowing in the elegant sunlight that warmed his skin. He, too, began to move his hand around in it, then walked through it to overcome his fear. This was so completely new to them; it took them a while to leave this beautiful sight. Hatori even took off his headband to see its radiance, but his eyes still lay hidden behind his bangs. As they continued through the forest, more and more sunrays became visible through the canopy. As they ran, they passed through as many sun rays as possible for entertainment. The sight of the figures moving in and out of the sunlight was remarkably beautiful; it was almost like a dance. Enzeru giggled with joy as Malachi and Vincent ran by her side, smiling, while Atreyu rode on her back since his legs were too small for running. Mikami, feeling that he's finally conquered his fear of the sun, began to smile as the rays of sunlight lit up his face. Hatori kept his headband off just so he could see the beauty of the forest when lit up by sunlight. But the fun soon ended as the team stopped to find a desert lying in front of them that looked like it went on for miles. Hatori looked around the edge of the forest from right to left, a bit confused.

"Well, this is kind of abrupt." He smiled, putting his headband back on due to the full extent of the sun as the others used a hand to help block some of the rays.

"Is this a desert? Keanu sensei never told us about a desert!" Mikami questioned as he squinted out into the blinding sand.

"Yeah, I know. So that means we might have taken a wrong turn." Hatori grinned, trying to hide the fact he probably led them the wrong way by accident.

"You idiot!" Mikami roared. "Can't you tell east from north?" He continued, pounding his fists on Hatori's arm. Hatori just grinned and took the blows, trying very weakly to protect himself in a joking manner.

"...Do we go through the desert?" Vincent asked after being quiet for so long. They all looked at him, then at each other.

"That's a good question." Hatori answered as he rested his head in his hand in a thinking pose.

"Well, if sensei said that if we reached the forest with sunlight, we were in the Land of Fire, right?" Enzeru exclaimed. "Shouldn't we already be there then?"

"Yeah, but this desert's catching me off guard." Hatori replied. "The logical thing to do would probably be to go around it. Then again, the forest we're looking for could be just over that horizon." He explained as he pointed in the direction of the desert. "What do you think, should we take the risk?" They all looked at each other, clueless.

"I guess we could go through the desert; Never been in one of those." Enzeru answered optimistically.

"Ok then, let's get started!" Hatori stretched his arms over his head before sprinting off into the desert, the others followed behind. Mikami, still iffy about going through the desert, looked behind him to see the forest growing smaller with every step. _'I hope we're going the right way...'_ He thought as he turned to face forward. As they ran, the sun began to climb higher and higher into the sky. The heat of this newly discovered sun started to get to the team, some having to stop once in a while for a water break. But it wasn't long until the brutal heat of the desert beckoned them to their bottles of water more often, and soon all of it was gone.

"Hatori! You drank all of the water!" Mikami yelled, fuming with anger.

"Oh? Did I? I think I saw you with the water bottle last." Hatori poked fun at him, still able to smile through the heat of the desert. Mikami didn't say anything since he remembered now that he was the one with the water bottle last. Embarrassed, he trekked on in front of the group trying not to let Hatori get the best of him. After a few more hours, the team went from sprinting, to running, to walking. They all felt faint, and with no more water, they were also dehydrated.

"Dammit Hatori...!" Mikami panted as he trudged his heavy feet through the hot hand. "'The_ forest we're looking for could be just over that horizon'_ my _ass_!" Hatori just ginned in reply.

"I'm sorry… I'm the one who said we should try it..." Enzeru said sadly, upset that she got everyone into this miserable mess. Mikami stopped for a moment to realize that, and then felt bad.

"Oh, no. It's not your fault Enzeru!" He said, trying to cheer her up. But as he turned around to see her, she fell to her knees. "Enzeru!" He cried out as she fell into the sand. Both of the boys ran to her aid as well as her puppets.

"Mama! Mama! Is she dead?" Malachi cried his little heart out. Hatori checked her pulse to reassure him.

"No, she's not dead. She just fainted from the heat probably." Hatori explained as he picked her up. Mikami's face turned red once again in jealousy.

"H-hey! Who says you get to carry her?" Mikami yelled defensively.

"First of all, I have more upper body strength than you," Hatori explained. "Secondly, you'd be too happy with her on your back to concentrate on walking straight." Hatori teased as he dropped his backpack and giant shuriken to the ground so he could carry Enzeru piggyback.

"...What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Mikami, finally understanding the innuendo, blushed so hard he almost gave himself a nosebleed. Hatori just grinned happily as he sealed away his giant shuriken in a scroll and tucked it into his shuriken pouch.

"Just grab my bag and let's get going." Hatori replied with a huge grin on his face. Mikami, too flustered to say anything more, grabbed the extra backpack and slung it over his shoulder in a rush to catch up. As the puppets followed behind, Malachi stood for a moment deep in thought.

"...I don't get it." He finally said in reply to Hatori's comment. "Hey Hatori! What do you mean by that? " Malachi yelled as he ran to catch up. Hatori never answered him; he only smiled as Mikami walked ahead of him with a flustered expression that stuck on his face for a while. The sun was now in the middle of the sky, and the team grew weaker and weaker without seeing a forest in sight; just more miles and miles of desert. Mikami, improvising a way to keep the sun off him, had wrapped his vest messily around his head and pulled his goggles over his eyes as he stepped wobbly through the sand.

"Hatori... I don't think we're going to make it…" Mikami panted hoarsely, leaning over to distribute the backpacks he was carrying in a more comfortable fashion. But he wasn't getting an answer. "Hey Hatori-" Mikami began to call again, but turned around to see Hatori collapsed in the sand with Enzeru laying half on him and half in the sand.

"Oh no!" Malachi cried as he rushed to Enzeru's side.

"Hatori..." Mikami called out as he tried to the best of his ability to walk back, but instead fell to his knees, dropping his packs to crawl slowly over to see if Hatori was ok. He was out. Now, with both of his teammates down, he began to panic. Pushing his goggles up off his face, he looked around frantically to find some hope of sanctuary, but in every direction was sand, sand, and even more sand. Mikami began to shake him to see if he would snap to. "C'mon Hatori, wake up…" Mikami pleaded weakly. "..." And with that, Mikami could no longer support his own weight. He came crashing down into the sand in front of his teammates. His hearing was fading as the sound of the panicking puppets continued on. He looked out into the desert with his vision blurring, then closing in on him. But he heard voices. Voices that didn't sound familiar to him as the last thing he saw was three pairs of feet standing in front of him before he blacked out.


	4. Chapter 4

It was early afternoon the next day. Mikami slowly stirred from his sleep, glancing around as his vision slowly began to clear. _'Where am I?'_ He thought as he felt the comfort of a real bed for the first time in a long time. As he sat up slowly, he realized he was in some sort of hospital room with a large, sliding window to his left and a door to the right. As he looked around, he finally remembered he was in the desert not long ago.

"Hatori! Enzeru!" He yelled in a panic as he tried to get out of bed quickly. But as soon as he grazed his skin against the railing of the hospital bed, he felt this horrible burning sensation that was absolutely unbearable.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH, _FUCK_!" Mikami screamed in utter agony. It echoed through the hallways and through the entire hospital before a young girl about Hatori's age came rushing in. She had light brown hair put up in a high ponytail with bright yellow eyes and light blue markings on her cheeks and forehead.

"Oh good! You're finally awake!" She exclaimed as she quickly closed the door behind her. "How are you feeling?" She continued as she made her way over to his bedside. Still in tears from bumping his skin, he tried to speak.

"_How am I feeling_?" He roared angrily with tears in his eyes. "What the hell is wrong with me? My skin feels like it's on fire!" The girl just looked at him strangely as she tilted her head.

"What, you never had sunburn before?" She asked as she put her hands on her hips.

"...Sunburn...?" Mikami questioned after a brief silence.

"I guess not." She sighed, still giving him a strange look. "By the way, my name's Kiata. I'm you and your friends' nurse." She introduced with a smile.

"You know where Hatori and Enzeru are?" He asked in complete surprise.

"Of course I do. Your friend Hatori is in the room next to you. He's got sunburn worse then you do! I tell you, I've never seen anyone as stupid as that to go out in the desert without a shirt on." She exclaimed as she pointed to the wall behind her to indicate Hatori's location. Mikami finally gave himself a look-over and saw how red his skin was. Although he couldn't see it, his face was just as bad. _'That's it...I never want to go into the sun again..'_ He thought angrily to himself as he tried to get out of bed once more. "Oh, let me help you!" She offered as she rushed to his side. "So, your name's Mikami?" She inquired as he rested his blistered feet on the soothing, cold marble floor.

"Yeah, how'd you know?" he asked, a bit puzzled.

"Your friend Enzeru told me. She was the only one with common sense in team to wear layers of clothing like that. Not an inch of sunburn, so we released her early, around seven in the evening." Kiata elaborated.

"So where is she now?" He asked with high spirits.

"Well, she's-" Kiata was cut off with another blood-curdling scream similar to Mikami's from next door. "Uh-oh, your friend's awake! 'Gotta rush!" She exclaimed as she ran out of the room and into Hatori's. Mikami, with curiosity, slowly followed her out the door to see how Hatori was doing in the room next to him. As he peered through the opened door to Hatori's room, he saw Hatori, red as a lobster, trying to be restrained by the other nurses as Kiata began to rub some sort of cream on the burnt areas.

"GAH! That burns!" He yelped in pain.

"Well, it's your stupid fault for wandering around in the desert without a shirt on!" She retorted as she continued to rub the medicinal lotion across his chest and arms. "This will help heal the sunburn so quit complaining!" She said, trying not to lose her patience with him dodging her lotion-covered hands. Mikami was actually getting some entertainment from watching his slow and painful torture. _'Hahahah, payback's a bitch, isn't it Hatori?'_ Mikami thought as he cackled an evil laugh to himself.

"This is pretty entertaining." said a giggling, female voice from beside him. Mikami almost jumped out of his skin before he realized another person was standing next to him.

"Who are you?" He asked the girl next to him with dark skin and long, dark brown hair. She grinned at him with her own evil laugh.

"I'm Kainon Akira. And I like to blow shit up." She introduced, trying to intimidate the frail Mikami. Mikami gulped as the color faded from his face in fear. Kainon laughed at his reaction.

"Hahahah, You scaredy cat!" She laughed. "And you have some freaky lookin' eyes." She pointed out as her face got way too close for comfort. Not knowing what to say, Mikami tried to back up to regain some personal space when he accidentally tripped over himself and went crashing down to the floor, landing on his sunburn. He roared in pain once more.

"Kainon, what are you doing?" Kiata spoke as she came running out.

"What? Just having some fun with the little squirt." She laughed again. _'She's no older than I am! What's she talking about?'_ Mikami thought as Kiata helped him off the floor.

"Behave!" She scolded Kainon. Kainon pouted and looked away in annoyance.

"Man, I can never have any fun!" Kainon blurted out as she folded her arms. "By the way, aren't you gonna thank me for carrying your heavy ass back here?"

"Huh?" Mikami said, dumbfounded. "Wait, was it you two that saved us from the desert?" He asked in surprise. Kiata smiled.

"Yes. Kainon, Matvei, and I found you in the desert when we were coming back from a mission. Your friend Enzeru regained consciousness as soon as we got back, so she told us everything." Kiata explained with a soft smile that reminded Mikami of the Zetumeikage's smile, which made him a little homesick.

"Wait, there were three of you? Where's the other?" Mikami asked in a shy voice.

"Oh, you mean Matvei?" Kainon answered for Kiata, trying to get back into the spotlight. "He's with that one chickie you guys were with. You see, he's buddies with a guy that works with puppets too, so Enzeru wanted to go meet him." She explained. Mikami's heart sank into his stomach at the impression that this puppet guy would steal her away. Without a further thought, he went racing down the hallway to find her.

"Hey, where do you think you're going in that hospital robe, white ass?" Kainon roared, almost falling onto the ground with laughter as Kiata sighed in annoyance at Kainon. Mikami stopped dead in his tracks, his face redder than his sunburn as he tried to cover up his backside with his hospital robe. After changing back into his clothes, Kainon agreed to take him to Enzeru.

"Remember, you're still a patient. You must come back when you're done. I'm not really supposed to let you do this, but I understand you would like to see your friend." Kiata explained as they stood outside the front doors of the hospital.

"Yeah, ok. It won't be long!" Mikami nodded in a positive manner before he began walking down the streets with the strange girl called Kainon. She held her hands behind her head as they walked while Mikami enjoyed the brightly lit city of sand that trailed up the sides of the surrounding cliff faces near the edges of the village. _'Eh, I guess the sun isn't that bad.'_ Mikami thought, changing his mind from before. The feeling of being in another village, other than his own, also got him thinking about getting out more often.

"So Kiata is your teammate right?" Mikami turned to ask Kainon. She nodded in confirmation. "So why does she work at the hospital?"

"She's a genius when it comes to medical jutsu. She's the best kunoichi we have here in the village, so she volunteers at the hospital a lot." Kainon explained.

"Ah, ok." replied Mikami as he looked up at the sky. "So, what village is this anyway?" he asked curiously.

"It's the Sand Village Hidden in the Desert." She answered blandly as she closed her eyes." I heard from Kiata you guys were headed for the Leaf Village and got lost! Hah! The Leaf Village was in the opposite direction you were heading, you dumb-asses!" She laughed. Mikami sighed in embarrassment. "But I can sympathize. If I've never left my village before, I'd probably get lost too, especially in a desert where it's hard to track directions." She admitted.

"Well, our sensei was our tour guide. He's been out of the village many times, but we got separated while we were still in the Land of Darkness." Mikami explained. Kainon nodded in understanding.

"You were attacked right?" Kainon asked, already informed by Enzeru beforehand.

"Yeah..." Mikami answered as he stared at the ground. "He was after me, it seemed."

"Now why's that?" Kainon inquired, looking him up and down to see what was so special about him. Mikami, feeling a little uncomfortable with her staring at him, tried to ignore it.

"..." Mikami had a pretty good guess as to why the ninja was after him. But no one outside the village was supposed to know about it."...I'm not sure." He smiled as he scratched the back of his head. Kainon just looked at him, almost knowing he was hiding something, but dropped the subject anyway.

"Over there!" She pointed to a fairly large house made of sand with a wooden front porch. On the porch stood a massively tall guy with a dark grey sweater that had sleeves almost long enough to touch the ground. His eyes were a cold, light blue with a thin, black ring in each eye that encircled the pupils. As Kainon and Mikami approached the porch, the guy folded his arms as rested a foot against the side of the house.

"Yo! Wuzz'up Matvei?" Kainon blurted out as her hand rose energetically, waiting for a high-five.

"Niet." He said without hesitation as he closed his eyes, most likely meaning he would rather die than give _her_ a high-five.

"Aww, c'mon! You're no fun!" She pouted before turning her high-five into a fist and punching his arm playfully.

"Why are you here?" He said in his annoyed, accented voice as his reddish-brown hair blew slightly in the light wind.

"He wants to see his _girlfriend_." She exclaimed with a huge grin.

"H-hey! She's not my girlfriend!" Mikami defended himself with his blushing face that couldn't be seen past the sunburn.

"And why aren't you inside?" Kainon prodded as she held her fists to her waist.

"Jesus, as soon as those two started talking, it never stopped. It was puppets this and puppets that. I couldn't take it anymore so I came out here to prevent my ears from bleeding." Matvei explained in a scarcely annoyed look that made Mikami shiver as he approached him. "So, you're Mikami, da?" Matvei asked as he towered over him.

"Uh...Uh-huh..." Mikami nodded, intimidated by Matvei's scary appearance. With that, Matvei opened the door and walked in with the laid back Kainon; Mikami followed close behind. As soon as they entered, voices could be heard talking in a very enthusiastic tone from the room to the left. Mikami approached the doorway that Matvei and Kainon passed through carelessly as if it were their own house to wander around in. Surrounded by her curious puppets, he saw Enzeru at a large workbench next to a guy dressed up in black with purple face marks.

"Mikami!" Said Enzeru as she spotted him peeking around the corner and ran over to him. "How are you feeling? How's Hatori?" She asked worriedly.

"Uhn... I'm fine!" Mikami spoke shyly. "Hatori's looking pretty bad, though."

"Aw, poor Hatori..." She said sadly.

"Don't worry! We'll go see him as soon as we get back!" Mikami said to cheer her up. She nodded with a smile, then took him by the hand and led him to the work table she was standing over moments before. Once again, Mikami didn't know whether to be happy or fear the creepy mass that lay on the bench.

"Matvei's friend, Kankuro, was nice enough to help me with the finishing touches for my new puppet!" She exclaimed happily as she pointed to the empty cavity in the puppet's chest. "I wasn't sure how to make the mini-cannon in his chest spring-loaded like I wanted, but he helped me in building the mechanism and everything! He even custom made the cannon for me!" Mikami and Kainon looked at each other, clueless as to what she was ranting about. As long as Enzeru was happy, Mikami didn't care what all she rambled on about. Kankuro just rubbed the back of his head as he blushed.

"It was nothing," said Kankuro. "But your puppetry still fascinates me. I've never seen anything like it." He continued, still overwhelmed at how her puppets can walk and talk on their own. "You 'gotta teach me how to do it sometime."

"Well, it's not really something I can teach, sorry..." Enzeru explained, trying to find a way to explain it to him.

"It's her Kekkei Genkai." Mikami elaborated.

"A Kekkei Genkai?" Kainon questioned in amusement before looking towards Matvei, who showed interest as well.

"Yup!" Enzeru answered with a smile. "Here, let me show you!" She said as she closed up the puppet's chest cavity that now contained the mini-cannon. She then began throwing complex hand signs. "You see, my Kekkei Genkai skips every other generation. So my grandmother taught me how to use it before she passed away." She explained. All of the sudden, a kind of white chakra began to emit from the tips of her fingers like glowing orbs. Everyone watched with curiosity and anticipation. Even Mikami watched intensely since he's never really seen it work before. She brought her fingertips just above the puppet's surface, and then began to touch her fingers gently, but quickly, to it in a specific pattern across the puppet's body. With each touch of the finger, the spot glowed for a second, the dissipated. After a while, she moved faster and faster, almost too fast for everyone's eyes to follow. Then she stopped suddenly, slowly raising her hands up off the puppet as the glowing orbs on her fingertips began to disappear. She dropped her hands to the bench top, leaning over the puppet's body as if waiting for something. Her puppets waited as well, peering over the counter to see. Atreyu sat on Malachi's head in order to get a better view. Without warning, the purple colored puppet with bright orange, unruly hair sat up quickly with a huge, creepy grin on its face. Everyone jumped back in surprise after witnessing this miracle of life. The puppet looked to its left, then to its right, then it turned its head all the way around with a horridly creaking sound that creeped everyone out. It looked at Enzeru and tilted its head at her.

"Era ouy ym rethom?" It said in a strange voice. The grin never faded from its face. Everyone looked at each other with the strangest look as Enzeru smiled so big her cheeks began to hurt.

"What'd it say?" Kainon whispered into Mikami's ear. Mikami shrugged.

"...He said _'are you my mother?' _" Answered Vincent in a calm voice.

"You can understand that?" Mikami and Kainon both questioned him loudly in disbelief.

"I'll name you Zanny!" Enzeru smiled excitedly as the puppet, now known now as Zanny, clumsily picked his self up and stood on the bench in front of Enzeru.

"Zanny si ym eman!" he said as his creepy grin grew bigger and tilted his head again. Enzeru squealed in happiness as she picked up Zanny and held him in a big embrace.

"Yay! We have a new little brother now!" Malachi shouted with glee as he jumped around in excitement. Atreyu snorted at the thought of not being the youngest anymore, then returned to the floor after being shaken a bit by Malachi's excessive jumping. Enzeru finished her hug, and then sat Zanny down on the floor where Malachi ran up to him and hugged one of his unnaturally long arms with happiness. Zanny just grinned and stared off into space with his green, left eye and sealed right.

"W-wow. That was amazing!" Spoke Kankuro in surprise. "That's definitely one powerful Kekkei Genkai, be careful with it."

"Thank you!" Enzeru replied with a smile. Looking at the clock on the wall, Mikami realized it was getting late and remembered his promise to Kiata that he would be back before sun down.

"I think it's about time we got back Enzeru." Mikami reminded her.

"Oh, yes!" Enzeru replied. "It was nice meeting you!" Enzeru said happily as she gave Kankuro big, friendly hug. Mikami's heart shattered. _'NO! I forgot I was supposed to prevent this from happening! Now I'll lose her forever!'_ Mikami thought as he tried to hold back the fumes of jealousy.

"Ooooh, what now lover boy?" Kainon grinned as she teased Mikami.

"Would you quit it?" Mikami yelled as he chased Kainon out of the house and down the street. Kainon just laughed herself to tears at his reaction. "You're just as bad as Hatori!"

"It was nice seein' you again, man." Matvei said to Kankuro, waving a hand at him in farewell.

"Yeah, you too." he said with a smile as he waved back.

After saying their farewells, the group headed back to the hospital and up to Hatori's room. But as they approached his door, voices could be heard talking quietly from inside.

"You pervert!" Yelled what sounded like Kiata's voice, followed by a loud slap and a morbid scream. Kiata came storming out of Hatori's room with anger, her face brimming red.

"What happened?" Matvei asked.

"Nothing!" She yelled as she stomped past them, her fists clenched. Mikami and Enzeru entered the hospital room quickly to see a pained Hatori holding the side of his face in agony.

"What'd you do now?" Mikami scolded him as he crossed his arms beside his bed. Hatori just grinned.

"Oh nothing~!" He said happily, obviously lying.

"You did! I know you did!" Mikami yelled, even more annoyed. "You better apologize!"

"Aww, why? It was a compliment!" Hatori grinned, and then covered his mouth after realizing what he just said. Just then, an intimidating Kainon flung the door open and stood in the doorway holding what looked like heavy-duty explosives. Apparently she caught wind of what occurred.

"You..." She growled as her eyes peered at Hatori from behind her long bangs. Not only did this intimidate Hatori, it scared Mikami to the other side of the bed where Enzeru stood. "How dare you stare at my teammate's ass!" she roared, running into the room with her armed bombs. "Now I get to blow you up!"

Mikami and Hatori screamed in fear as they both tried to scramble to safety, but the explosions behind them sent the two flying out the doorway and into the hall. Hatori yelped in pain as Mikami landed on his sunburn after they both slammed hard into the wall.

"Kainon!" A horrified Kiata yelled once she saw the damage her teammate caused. Kainon stepped out of the doorway in triumph as she placed a foot on top of her mound of defeated foes.

"What?" Kainon yelled in reply as she pressed down on Mikami's sunburn with her foot.

"Gah! What'd I do? I didn't do anything!" Mikami cried.

"Eht ymene si gnickatta?" Spoke the confused Zanny that stood out in the hallway with the other puppets.

"Huh?" Kainon spoke, having no clue what he just said.

"Chtakkkaaaaaaaa!" Zanny yelled, and then began to laugh manically as he opened the cannon in his chest.

"No, Zanny!" Enzeru cried as she peered out of the smoky hospital room in a coughing fit. It was too late. Zanny opened the cannon in his chest and fired the canned hastily without a single thought. As the cannon whizzed through the air, the recoil sent Zanny flying backwards at high-speed right into Matvei, who was able grab a hold of him.

"Whoa!" Kainon yelped as she ducked quickly. The cannon ball just barely missed her head, but it penetrated many hospital walls behind her. The people in the hospital began to panic as Kiata glared at Kainon. Kainon looked around hopefully to see if she might be looking at someone else.

"What?" She asked, believing she wasn't the cause of this mess.

"Can you get off me now... please?" Mikami sobbed, terrified of the cannon ball that flew closely overhead and also in pain from the sunburn.

"Yeah..." sobbed Hatori in agreement.


End file.
